WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:22.760 Hi, everyone. 00:22.760 --> 00:23.920 It's great to see everyone here. 00:23.920 --> 00:24.920 My name is Rami Khalil. 00:24.920 --> 00:29.980 I'm from Socialist Alternative, and it is my honor to introduce Keshama Sawant to you 00:29.980 --> 00:41.480 tonight. 00:41.480 --> 00:45.200 Keshama is the Socialist Alternative candidate for the Washington State House of Representatives 00:45.200 --> 00:46.800 in District 43. 00:46.800 --> 00:51.560 She's running against the Washington State Speaker of the House, Frank Chopp, who is 00:51.560 --> 00:55.120 the most powerful legislator in our state. 00:55.120 --> 00:59.920 He's the Speaker of the House, and he controls the Democratic majority in our state government. 00:59.920 --> 01:06.720 Some of the endorsers of Keshama's campaign, our election campaign, are the Stranger newspaper, 01:06.720 --> 01:12.040 the Eat the State newspaper, Dorley Rainey, Reverend Rich Lang, the Green Party of Seattle, 01:12.040 --> 01:17.560 the Jill Stein campaign, and I just got word just today that we just received the endorsement 01:17.560 --> 01:29.560 from the Communication Workers of America Union Local 37083. 01:29.560 --> 01:33.200 Keshama is an economics professor at Seattle Central Community College. 01:33.200 --> 01:38.080 She's also been a teacher at Seattle University, and she's a member, therefore, of the, well, 01:38.080 --> 01:41.200 at least at Seattle Central Community College, of the union there, the American Federation 01:41.200 --> 01:43.480 of Teachers Local 1789. 01:43.480 --> 01:48.720 She comes out of the Occupy Wall Street movement, and she's a tremendous fighter for the interests 01:48.720 --> 01:55.300 of workers, women, people of color, LGBTQ people, and it's my honor and pleasure to introduce 01:55.300 --> 01:56.440 you to her tonight. 01:56.440 --> 02:10.720 So please join me in welcoming her. 02:10.720 --> 02:16.720 Mic check. 02:16.720 --> 02:20.240 Thank you, Rami, for that very generous introduction. 02:20.240 --> 02:24.680 I will try to live up to that expectation. 02:24.680 --> 02:26.680 Thank you all for being here tonight. 02:26.680 --> 02:33.440 It is indeed my honor to be able to speak to you about some of the most burning and 02:33.440 --> 02:36.400 important issues of our times. 02:36.400 --> 02:42.000 And I also wanted us to recognize that we are today in historic times. 02:42.000 --> 02:48.440 We have just been through the Arab Spring with the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions. 02:48.440 --> 02:55.600 We've been through the Wisconsin uprising and the Occupy movement, which finally, after 02:55.600 --> 03:03.080 so many decades, broke the silence on the deep inequality that pervades our society, 03:03.080 --> 03:13.560 the corporate domination, the financial oligarchy, the rapaciousness and greed with which corporations 03:13.560 --> 03:17.900 have been looting not only this country but this entire planet. 03:17.900 --> 03:33.160 So we are indeed fortunate, I think, to be part of this struggle. 03:33.160 --> 03:40.320 It's indeed an honor to be fighting for our fellow human beings and for our brothers and 03:40.320 --> 03:41.320 sisters. 03:41.320 --> 03:47.140 And I wanted to start by saying that we are here in a gathering of third party candidates. 03:47.140 --> 03:51.680 So let's recognize what that really implies. 03:51.680 --> 04:02.640 So if we are living in an era of struggle of the Occupy movement, we are in an era where 04:02.640 --> 04:07.120 we are facing the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. 04:07.120 --> 04:11.880 We are facing deep inequality and poverty. 04:11.880 --> 04:18.200 And we are also in an era when people are refusing to accept the status quo. 04:18.200 --> 04:21.440 We are seeing students rising up everywhere. 04:21.440 --> 04:27.080 We are also seeing young people recognizing that they don't have much of a future. 04:27.080 --> 04:33.360 They are facing a bleak future with this double whammy of very few job prospects and a ball 04:33.360 --> 04:37.440 and chain of student debt that is going to be around their neck for the rest of their 04:37.440 --> 04:46.320 lives. 04:46.320 --> 04:54.600 And in such an era, if a party that has been around for decades and decades and claims 04:54.600 --> 05:00.440 to represent the progressive agenda and claims to represent the working class, if such a 05:00.440 --> 05:09.600 party is not able to sweep the floor in the elections against a Robert Barron Mr. 1% buffoon 05:09.600 --> 05:25.560 venture capitalist, then they have themselves to blame. 05:25.560 --> 05:27.440 We are not the spoilers. 05:27.440 --> 05:28.440 They are. 05:28.440 --> 05:36.440 And the fact that Obama is running neck to neck with Romney and is not able to surge 05:36.440 --> 05:43.480 ahead decisively is a testament to the betrayal after betrayal after betrayal of the Democratic 05:43.480 --> 05:53.200 Party. 05:53.200 --> 05:54.200 And it's no different here. 05:54.200 --> 05:57.800 I mean, we are running a state race, but it's no different here. 05:57.800 --> 06:03.760 And in fact, I would say that we have a stronger case to indict the role of the Democratic 06:03.760 --> 06:06.920 Party because they have been in the majority. 06:06.920 --> 06:11.560 They have held the governor's mansion for well over a decade. 06:11.560 --> 06:13.760 And look at what they have given us. 06:13.760 --> 06:20.440 They have given us massive cuts to higher education, all the almost decimation of basic 06:20.440 --> 06:23.360 health and the disability lifeline. 06:23.360 --> 06:27.920 And they're telling us that, you know what, we need to do these things. 06:27.920 --> 06:32.360 Chop, our opponent, Frank Chop, who is the speaker of the house, is often going on the 06:32.360 --> 06:37.200 campaign trail saying, you know, he stood next to me several times and said that I have 06:37.200 --> 06:39.320 saved basic health. 06:39.320 --> 06:45.280 That means that I have pulled out a few crumbs for you lesser models while I am fulfilling 06:45.280 --> 07:00.120 my real agenda, which is to be a servant to my corporate masters. 07:00.120 --> 07:05.860 And I am a teacher, so I really want to highlight what has happened to higher education. 07:05.860 --> 07:11.480 If you look at all over the state, the cost of higher education for students today now 07:11.480 --> 07:14.280 have doubled since 2006. 07:14.280 --> 07:18.520 So they are facing a really, really tough period ahead. 07:18.520 --> 07:20.320 And we have to be talking about that. 07:20.320 --> 07:25.480 And we have to explain why is it that the Democratic Party is not able to carry out 07:25.480 --> 07:30.400 even a semblance of a fight against what's happening. 07:30.400 --> 07:35.480 And the reason is that they are so tied at the hip with corporations. 07:35.480 --> 07:39.380 Andrew who spoke before me, you know, he talked about the coal terminal. 07:39.380 --> 07:45.120 One of the major corporations behind the coal terminal is Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad 07:45.120 --> 07:46.120 Company. 07:46.120 --> 07:51.440 Mr. Chopp has received $900 in the current campaign from this corporation. 07:51.440 --> 07:58.040 But that is just one really tiny grain of sand in the ocean of evidence that you can 07:58.040 --> 08:05.160 see that if a party is taking corporate money, then they are going to be beholden to that 08:05.160 --> 08:06.480 corporate agenda. 08:06.480 --> 08:19.800 And the sooner we wake up to that reality, the better for us. 08:19.800 --> 08:28.960 Our campaign is calling for free, good quality public education from K-12 through university. 08:28.960 --> 08:39.400 They're calling for single payer health care. 08:39.400 --> 08:44.200 We don't want Obama care, which the physicians for our national health plan have called an 08:44.200 --> 08:46.200 aspirin to cure cancer. 08:46.200 --> 08:55.920 We want single payer health care. 08:55.920 --> 08:57.600 And we know it can be done. 08:57.600 --> 09:03.000 I mean, whenever we talk about this, the Democrats will tell us that, you know, you guys are 09:03.000 --> 09:04.000 dreamers. 09:04.000 --> 09:06.320 You don't know how it is to live in the real world. 09:06.320 --> 09:09.920 You know, in the real world, you have to actually get things done. 09:09.920 --> 09:14.240 You know, have you ever heard this phrase, you know, you have to get things done? 09:14.240 --> 09:19.000 What they mean by getting things done is getting things done for the corporations and selling 09:19.000 --> 09:20.840 us down the river. 09:20.840 --> 09:23.480 So we have to reject that logic. 09:23.480 --> 09:36.440 We're saying that education and health care and all the social needs can be fully funded 09:36.440 --> 09:37.880 in a high quality manner. 09:37.880 --> 09:40.400 There is a lot of wealth in this state. 09:40.400 --> 09:43.200 This state is actually awash in wealth. 09:43.200 --> 09:48.760 Microsoft alone made $23 billion in profit last year in 2011. 09:48.760 --> 10:03.360 So we are calling for all these programs to be funded by taxing the rich. 10:03.360 --> 10:09.000 Tax the super rich, tax the big corporations, tax all those entities who have been bleeding 10:09.000 --> 10:11.000 us dry for all these decades. 10:11.000 --> 10:13.460 We're the ones doing all the work. 10:13.460 --> 10:19.600 They take all the profit and we have to say enough to that whole idea. 10:19.600 --> 10:24.400 But you know, the moment you say that, the Democrats and other people will say, well, 10:24.400 --> 10:27.560 you know, if you tax the rich, they're the job creators. 10:27.560 --> 10:28.560 They're going to leave the state. 10:28.560 --> 10:29.560 What are you going to do then? 10:29.560 --> 10:35.760 Well, I will say it just as an economist that there is plenty of evidence that they don't 10:35.760 --> 10:37.360 actually create jobs. 10:37.360 --> 10:42.760 The way jobs are created under capitalism is by consumption by ordinary people like 10:42.760 --> 10:44.080 you and me. 10:44.080 --> 10:45.920 That is what creates jobs. 10:45.920 --> 10:53.400 However, there is some truth to the fact that if the rich face higher costs, then they will 10:53.400 --> 10:59.440 try to move their, you know, move themselves elsewhere because that is the logic of global 10:59.440 --> 11:00.680 capitalism. 11:00.680 --> 11:05.160 And that is why I am a socialist, because you have to recognize that as long as there 11:05.160 --> 11:11.760 is another source of labor that is even more desperate than us, and so they're willing 11:11.760 --> 11:16.000 to take on lower wages than us, it doesn't matter whether it's South Carolina or the 11:16.000 --> 11:17.000 Philippines. 11:17.000 --> 11:22.600 As long as there is that other source of surplus labor, jobs can move and if they can, they 11:22.600 --> 11:23.600 will move. 11:23.600 --> 11:24.600 That is the logic. 11:24.600 --> 11:28.320 But look at, look at the, you know, follow the logic to its end. 11:28.320 --> 11:31.200 If you accept that, then what are you facing? 11:31.200 --> 11:35.540 You're facing a global and a national race to the bottom. 11:35.540 --> 11:40.920 So you have the governments of all these 50 states fighting not to improve your standard 11:40.920 --> 11:46.080 of living and to make sure your kids get good education and healthcare, but to see which 11:46.080 --> 11:51.840 of us can come out ahead in providing the best conditions for profit making for big 11:51.840 --> 11:53.260 corporations. 11:53.260 --> 11:57.960 And so we're saying, no, we reject those parameters of capitalism. 11:57.960 --> 12:03.680 If Boeing executives want to leave the state, they are welcome to do so. 12:03.680 --> 12:07.800 The factory is here. 12:07.800 --> 12:09.280 The factory is here. 12:09.280 --> 12:10.880 The workers are here. 12:10.880 --> 12:14.780 The talent is here and all the community is here. 12:14.780 --> 12:17.360 We will run the factories ourselves. 12:17.360 --> 12:29.180 We are therefore calling. 12:29.180 --> 12:36.360 We are therefore calling for the democratic public ownership by workers and by the community 12:36.360 --> 12:39.400 of their workplaces, of the big corporations. 12:39.400 --> 12:41.040 We don't need those big bosses. 12:41.040 --> 12:44.480 They don't, they're not the ones doing the work anyway. 12:44.480 --> 12:56.140 So I, I invite you to join our campaign if you agree with these points of view, because 12:56.140 --> 12:58.720 we cannot make change just with a few people. 12:58.720 --> 13:02.020 We need the whole community to rally behind this. 13:02.020 --> 13:03.080 But what are the next steps? 13:03.080 --> 13:08.400 I have just a little bit of time left for myself and I want to say that we should raise 13:08.400 --> 13:11.520 our sights beyond this election campaign. 13:11.520 --> 13:15.000 This election campaign is now going to last for about 18 days or so. 13:15.000 --> 13:21.840 Are we going to pack up and go home after November 6th? 13:21.840 --> 13:27.720 That's what I want to hear, but I want it to be louder, but that's good. 13:27.720 --> 13:28.720 That's good. 13:28.720 --> 13:30.560 So what are we, what are we going to do? 13:30.560 --> 13:32.280 Where are we going to go from here? 13:32.280 --> 13:37.040 And I think we need to recognize that even though we as socialist and activists are running 13:37.040 --> 13:42.440 this election campaign, elections are not the most favorable terrain for activists. 13:42.440 --> 13:50.080 We are doing this as a tool to reach out to people out there who we know agree with us, 13:50.080 --> 13:52.720 but may not think that somebody else agrees with them. 13:52.720 --> 13:59.520 So we're trying to reach out to the community, but ultimately it is mass movements that shake 13:59.520 --> 14:00.520 things up. 14:00.520 --> 14:06.000 And so we need to take the word out and participate in mass movements. 14:06.000 --> 14:12.360 And we are also calling for running a slate of candidates in a similar fashion like our 14:12.360 --> 14:19.200 campaign in 2013 for the Seattle city council races and hopefully for the mayoral races. 14:19.200 --> 14:29.880 We think that the left needs to come together and together fight the corporate agenda. 14:29.880 --> 14:43.080 And I know the left has their differences. 14:43.080 --> 14:44.320 We are socialists. 14:44.320 --> 14:49.840 We don't hide that and we will fight for what we think global society should be going towards, 14:49.840 --> 14:52.040 which is democratic socialism. 14:52.040 --> 14:58.120 But I really want to remind everyone that for every one thing that we have a difference 14:58.120 --> 15:02.540 of opinion on, we have 10 other things that we agree on. 15:02.540 --> 15:04.360 We have a common enemy. 15:04.360 --> 15:11.480 It's corporations and capitalism. 15:11.480 --> 15:19.080 So I want to urge you all to fight together with us and join us in taking this era of 15:19.080 --> 15:22.840 struggle forward and join us in making history. 15:22.840 --> 15:23.840 Thank you. 15:23.840 --> 15:31.560 Thank you, Shoma, for that wonderful speech. 15:31.560 --> 15:36.400 I just want to announce some ways that people can get involved in the campaign real quick. 15:36.400 --> 15:41.640 One is you can go to our campaign's website to find out all the various ways you can contribute 15:41.640 --> 15:43.400 to the Sewant campaign. 15:43.400 --> 15:46.640 And our website is votesewant.org. 15:46.640 --> 15:51.680 Also you've seen in your pews that there's a debate tomorrow with the most powerful legislator 15:51.680 --> 15:54.080 in this state, Frank Chopp. 15:54.080 --> 16:00.280 Shoma here will face off against him for 45 minutes tomorrow at 8 p.m. in Fremont. 16:00.280 --> 16:03.480 And you have the address here, the Doric Masonic Temple. 16:03.480 --> 16:08.160 It's just west of Fremont Ave. 16:08.160 --> 16:12.520 Also I have to explain another campaign that we're involved with. 16:12.520 --> 16:17.440 Shoma here, as a teacher at Seattle Central Community College, has been an outspoken fighter 16:17.440 --> 16:21.000 against the budget cuts that the colleges have been facing. 16:21.000 --> 16:27.720 When the Occupy Seattle movement decided to relocate its encampment from Westlake up to 16:27.720 --> 16:32.380 Seattle Central Community College in order to link the Occupy movement with the fight 16:32.380 --> 16:36.840 against the budget cuts, she was one of the teachers that was instrumental in pressuring 16:36.840 --> 16:42.140 the administration to allow the Occupy movement to camp out at the college. 16:42.140 --> 16:53.440 She also was...the administration also has been trying to restrict students and teachers' 16:53.440 --> 16:56.920 free speech rights and she spoke out against that. 16:56.920 --> 17:03.400 And as a result of being an outspoken workers' rights advocate and all these things, the 17:03.400 --> 17:08.360 administration recently fired her from her job, believe it or not, for this quarter. 17:08.360 --> 17:09.680 But we're not accepting it. 17:09.680 --> 17:13.800 We are fighting to get her job back because we don't believe that workers who speak up 17:13.800 --> 17:17.800 for their rights and for the rights of the community should be fired and that we're going 17:17.800 --> 17:20.520 to go to bat hard to get her job back. 17:20.520 --> 17:23.220 And we think there's a chance that we can win her job back, but we're going to need 17:23.220 --> 17:24.220 your help. 17:24.220 --> 17:28.920 So please make sure that you read this flyer tonight and please call and email the administration 17:28.920 --> 17:32.420 at Seattle Central Community College and tell them that she deserves her job back. 17:32.420 --> 17:36.680 We want her hired back at the beginning of next school quarter in January and we want 17:36.680 --> 17:41.040 her wages paid back to her for the wages that she lost this school quarter. 17:41.040 --> 17:42.680 So that's very, very important. 17:42.680 --> 17:46.820 There's also a public forum that we're having this Thursday about that at 1 p.m. at Seattle 17:46.820 --> 17:48.360 Central Community College. 17:48.360 --> 17:54.200 And lastly, I just want to encourage everyone to stop by the Vote Sawant table in the lobby, 17:54.200 --> 17:59.800 pick up a yard sign to hang in your window in your yard, sign up to volunteer. 17:59.800 --> 18:01.480 You can talk with Kshoma at our table. 18:01.480 --> 18:05.280 And we also have a team of people that are going to pass out clipboards now if you want 18:05.280 --> 18:10.120 to sign the petition to Seattle Central Community College demanding her job back or if you want 18:10.120 --> 18:14.720 to join the Sawant campaign and get involved with social alternative. 18:14.720 --> 18:16.760 And our website is votesawant.org. 18:16.760 --> 18:23.840 Thank you. 18:23.840 --> 18:24.840 Thank you very much. 18:24.840 --> 18:35.200 I'm Dolly Rainey and tonight I have the absolutely unbelievable honor to introduce the next president 18:35.200 --> 18:48.560 of the United States. 18:48.560 --> 18:57.680 Jill has traveled the last three days, more places than we can name on the map of Western 18:57.680 --> 18:58.680 Washington. 18:58.680 --> 19:06.040 She's been to Bellingham, Tacoma, Olympia, and Tacoma and now here. 19:06.040 --> 19:15.680 She legitimizes what it means to be a third party candidate without publicity in the mainstream 19:15.680 --> 19:16.680 media. 19:16.680 --> 19:26.200 Jill has now gotten more attention by the alternate media than any other candidate and 19:26.200 --> 19:27.560 we need to keep this up. 19:27.560 --> 19:37.200 I listened yesterday to an interview Jill did with one of those real left wing news 19:37.200 --> 19:44.200 magazines, Forbes Magazine. 19:44.200 --> 19:47.280 The interviewer has a blog with the magazine. 19:47.280 --> 19:55.040 His name is Peter Riley and I would urge all of you to get on your computer and pick up 19:55.040 --> 19:58.720 the YouTube interview by Peter Riley. 19:58.720 --> 20:07.160 It's an hour and three minutes but it will give you such complete insight on the wonderful 20:07.160 --> 20:14.520 woman that we have here to speak to us and the way she handles herself in questions that 20:14.520 --> 20:16.960 I would never want to be asked. 20:16.960 --> 20:24.560 And not only that, she does her own income tax on TurboTax. 20:24.560 --> 20:37.800 And she will turn them over to Peter Riley. 20:37.800 --> 20:44.640 I know that we are short on time so here we go without my long speeches. 20:44.640 --> 21:00.560 Please welcome Dr. Jill Stein. 21:00.560 --> 21:02.000 Thank you all so much. 21:02.000 --> 21:09.240 Thank you, Dorlee. 21:09.240 --> 21:18.840 I think no one, no one exemplifies the politics of courage more than Dorlee Ramey. 21:18.840 --> 21:27.320 So thank you, Dorlee, for leading the way. 21:27.320 --> 21:38.560 When I saw that picture of this school teacher grandmother, former candidate who had been 21:38.560 --> 21:47.240 pepper sprayed in the face as the symbol of the resistance to the police crackdown on 21:47.240 --> 22:03.160 Occupy, I said, oh my God, I hope someday I have the honor of meeting that woman. 22:03.160 --> 22:11.480 And I was so flabbergasted when she turned up at a campaign event in Seattle and identified 22:11.480 --> 22:19.960 herself as a former school teacher from Seattle and I started putting two and two together. 22:19.960 --> 22:21.480 Wow. 22:21.480 --> 22:31.760 So I think Dorlee is kind of an example of what's happening right now that really powerful 22:31.760 --> 22:40.280 visionary people like you right here in this room are coming out of the woodwork and it's 22:40.280 --> 22:47.400 you and Dorlee that have really brought us to this incredible historic moment that we're 22:47.400 --> 22:55.920 at right now where democracy and justice are really rising up all around us from the democracy 22:55.920 --> 23:03.720 revolutions in the Middle East to the Occupy protests around the country to the coal train 23:03.720 --> 23:12.320 blockades in Washington to the Keystone pipeline blockades and the eviction blockades to keep 23:12.320 --> 23:21.120 families in their homes and the student strikes to stop tuition hikes from Quebec to California 23:21.120 --> 23:30.680 to Mexico to the rallies for a nuclear free future and on the list goes in so many ways 23:30.680 --> 23:37.480 democracy and justice really are breaking out all around us and as they are people are 23:37.480 --> 23:45.120 breaking away from the establishment parties that have gotten us to this breaking point 23:45.120 --> 23:50.720 and it's so exciting to be at an election time right now where people get focused and 23:50.720 --> 23:56.280 we start having conversations that we otherwise don't have with all kinds of people that we 23:56.280 --> 24:02.040 didn't know and we don't usually talk to because we can actually put all those things 24:02.040 --> 24:10.000 together and make this election a really powerful tipping point to start taking back our democracy 24:10.000 --> 24:15.840 and the peaceful just green future that we deserve and we deserve it now and thank you 24:15.840 --> 24:23.600 all for making that happen. 24:23.600 --> 24:30.120 And we badly need a tipping point right now because we are at the breaking point. 24:30.120 --> 24:37.000 We're at the breaking point for people and the planet and our economy and our democracy 24:37.000 --> 24:42.240 and what's exciting is that people are realizing we didn't get here just on account of one 24:42.240 --> 24:48.880 party but we've gotten here really thanks to both wings of this political establishment, 24:48.880 --> 24:58.200 the Republican and the Democratic wings of that political establishment that together 24:58.200 --> 25:04.840 have really delivered crisis after crisis and as you may know not all your friends may 25:04.840 --> 25:11.760 be quite up to speed on this so I'm going to just run through the litany of how Barack 25:11.760 --> 25:18.160 Obama in fact has embraced the policies of George Bush and in fact gone beyond him in 25:18.160 --> 25:26.560 so many ways and you know in this campaign people ask me as a doctor so what kind of 25:26.560 --> 25:38.960 medicine am I practicing now and I say I'm practicing political medicine because it's 25:38.960 --> 25:44.680 the mother of all illnesses and we've got to fix this one if we want to fix everything 25:44.680 --> 25:51.120 else that ails us but it's actually all of us that need to be political therapists in 25:51.120 --> 25:59.800 this campaign because so many of our friends and colleagues are stuck in an abusive relationship, 25:59.800 --> 26:07.000 an abusive political relationship and sometimes it helps to run them through the reality check 26:07.000 --> 26:12.920 and you know one of the hallmarks of being in an abusive relationship is that you're 26:12.920 --> 26:20.360 making apologies for your abuser things like oh I know he really loves me in his heart 26:20.360 --> 26:26.160 he didn't mean to take away my job and my home and my dignity and my credit worthiness 26:26.160 --> 26:32.200 and all that and next year it's going to be better and someone made him do it it was the 26:32.200 --> 26:38.240 Republicans who made him do it or it was that addiction not to alcohol in this case it was 26:38.240 --> 26:43.720 just that addiction to money that made him do it so anyhow for our friends that are still 26:43.720 --> 26:49.320 stuck in abusive relationships I'm going to run through the reality check quickly that 26:49.320 --> 26:56.760 you might be able to pass on to them and help help them break up with that political abuser 26:56.760 --> 27:07.360 and get their lives back on track. 27:07.360 --> 27:13.720 So to run through the list of how Barack Obama embraced the policies of George Bush and went 27:13.720 --> 27:20.160 even further so on the bailouts for Wall Street 700 billion under George Bush but four and 27:20.160 --> 27:27.720 a half trillion in dollars dispersed under Barack Obama plus another 16 trillion in free 27:27.720 --> 27:34.040 interest loans or look at the offshoring of our jobs and the undermining of our wages 27:34.040 --> 27:40.640 with these free trade agreements it was Bill Clinton as you may remember who actually signed 27:40.640 --> 27:46.320 the first free trade agreement NAFTA that began to ship millions of our jobs overseas 27:46.320 --> 27:52.520 so while Mitt Romney might be making those investments with Bain Capital and establishing 27:52.520 --> 27:59.080 a whole investment prototype and investing his own money it's actually that framework 27:59.080 --> 28:04.760 of these free trade agreements that allow the Republicans to do that in the first place 28:04.760 --> 28:10.640 and that was brought to us by the Democrats exactly and Barack Obama has expanded those 28:10.640 --> 28:16.020 free trade agreements and is now negotiating the mother of all free trade agreements the 28:16.020 --> 28:21.480 Trans-Pacific Partnership which you've probably heard about. 28:21.480 --> 28:25.680 So again this is something that we need to stop and point out to our friends is going 28:25.680 --> 28:34.200 on now under the watch not just under the watch but due to the active pushing by this 28:34.200 --> 28:39.520 president to expand those free trade agreements and this one not only sends our jobs overseas 28:39.520 --> 28:45.600 and undermines wages it also undermines American sovereignty by creating an international 28:45.600 --> 28:52.720 secret corporate board that gets to rule on our laws and our regulations if we want to 28:52.720 --> 28:59.400 protect workers rights or adequate wages or safety in the workplace or our environment 28:59.400 --> 29:05.040 and our climate it has to pass muster with this international corporate board or we pay 29:05.040 --> 29:11.360 them for future earnings lost so this is an absolute outrage and should be a public issue 29:11.360 --> 29:15.800 we are making it a public issue which is why they are doing their darnedest to keep us 29:15.800 --> 29:27.240 out of the debates but we're fighting back as you know. 29:27.240 --> 29:32.960 And on Monday night for the third debate we will be hosting or I should say democracy 29:32.960 --> 29:40.320 now will be hosting an expanded debate so tune in Monday night if you miss it to hear 29:40.320 --> 29:47.200 Koshana's debate which is also important you can get the democracy now debate on their 29:47.200 --> 29:52.600 station taped so you can actually go to both of the debates and you can support a real 29:52.600 --> 29:58.320 debate here in Seattle and you can support a real debate at the national level you can 29:58.320 --> 30:06.480 also go to our website and sign on to the petition to occupy the commission on presidential 30:06.480 --> 30:17.760 debates so that we can demand real debates that we deserve. 30:17.760 --> 30:25.520 So just to continue going through this litany quickly so you're armed to have this discussion 30:25.520 --> 30:33.360 with your abused friends in addition to the free trade agreements you have the skyrocketing 30:33.360 --> 30:38.760 of student debt Romney and Obama had identical positions on student debt they were going 30:38.760 --> 30:44.240 to be heroes they consider themselves heroes for staying the course on this devastating 30:44.240 --> 30:51.040 student debt they promised not to let the interest rates go up but that's not good enough 30:51.040 --> 30:56.920 it's a sinking ship and we're saying it's time to put an end to student debt instead 30:56.920 --> 31:02.880 of bailing out the banks for the fourth time which the Fed is doing right now we need to 31:02.880 --> 31:08.240 break up the big banks and bail out the students instead of the other way around which is what 31:08.240 --> 31:18.120 they're doing. 31:18.120 --> 31:23.880 And while we're at it it's time to make public higher education free which is the way it 31:23.880 --> 31:35.240 should be and we'll come back to that in a minute but just to finish the laundry list 31:35.240 --> 31:42.400 here in addition to skyrocketing debt it's the home foreclosure epidemic which this president 31:42.400 --> 31:49.320 decided to do nothing about he said too much moral hazard the moral hazard was with Wall 31:49.320 --> 31:59.760 Street not with the families who were victims of predatory loans to start with. 31:59.760 --> 32:06.680 We need an immediate moratorium on these home foreclosures not one more family thrown out 32:06.680 --> 32:19.920 on the street and you know talk about a peace president on day three of his administration 32:19.920 --> 32:25.560 the president intensified the bombing of Pakistan and then went on to surge the troops into 32:25.560 --> 32:31.160 Afghanistan spread the drone wars into Yemen and Somalia now they're talking about North 32:31.160 --> 32:38.360 Africa as well and the only reason that Obama brought the troops home from Iraq was why 32:38.360 --> 32:44.000 it was thanks to George Bush actually it took George Bush to bring the troops home under 32:44.000 --> 32:51.840 Barack Obama because he had established a date to end the immunity of US troops and 32:51.840 --> 32:57.440 he fought as hard as he could to extend that date of immunity to keep the troops there 32:57.440 --> 33:13.000 he wasn't able to do that thanks to Bradley Manning and WikiLeaks who had basically exposed 33:13.000 --> 33:19.240 so I think it's fair to say that it was actually Bradley Manning and Julian Assange who brought 33:19.240 --> 33:32.480 the troops home from Iraq and on on civil liberties this White House codified all the 33:32.480 --> 33:39.080 violations of George Bush and then went further to create the power of indefinite detention 33:39.080 --> 33:45.400 these are dictatorial powers that have been given over to this president by Congress and 33:45.400 --> 33:52.080 he was driving this as well dictatorial powers to lock up any one of his choosing without 33:52.080 --> 34:01.040 due process without charge and without trial exactly we've got to repeal that right of 34:01.040 --> 34:12.880 indefinite detention and our administration will do that and likewise the the the power 34:12.880 --> 34:19.440 of assassination now even including American citizens the Patriot Act Guantanamo you name 34:19.440 --> 34:24.640 it there are just so many essential civil liberties that are under assault and we need 34:24.640 --> 34:30.880 to put an end to that this is again a case in which the Democrats have delivered even 34:30.880 --> 34:38.120 more harm than was given to us by Republicans likewise on immigrant rights we've seen in 34:38.120 --> 34:45.800 the first three years of this administration more immigrants who were who were racially 34:45.800 --> 34:52.480 profiled split from their families children taken away from their parents and deported 34:52.480 --> 35:02.440 under the Secure Communities Act so the the policy that the President Obama adopted recently 35:02.440 --> 35:07.460 allowing the dreamers to get two-year work permits that's very nice until they hit age 35:07.460 --> 35:14.160 thirty and they run into a brick wall we're calling for immigrant rights as human rights 35:14.160 --> 35:20.680 ending NAFTA and the free trade agreements that actually drive the wave of economic refugees 35:20.680 --> 35:27.080 in the first place but creating a welcoming and legal path to citizenship for the immigrants 35:27.080 --> 35:40.960 who are here and then finally just to mention quickly the war on drugs the failed and racist 35:40.960 --> 35:47.640 war on drugs we need to put an end to that war on drugs and to treat abuse and addiction 35:47.640 --> 35:53.400 where they exist they should be treated as public health and mental health problems not 35:53.400 --> 36:07.040 treating them as crimes which only makes them worse and on day one on day one of the new 36:07.040 --> 36:15.000 administration a president if she wanted could actually instruct the drug enforcement agency 36:15.000 --> 36:22.960 to do something really amazing and radical that would be to use science in determining 36:22.960 --> 36:35.480 what substances are scheduled and where they are in the schedule of substances because 36:35.480 --> 36:44.320 that would mean that marijuana which is a substance that is dangerous because it's illegal 36:44.320 --> 36:55.760 it's not illegal because it's dangerous which it's not at all if you get what I mean so 36:55.760 --> 37:02.320 that would mean that marijuana and hemp if science was used would be taken off the list 37:02.320 --> 37:11.520 of scheduled substances and then finally I have to mention the climate because here 37:11.520 --> 37:17.280 again is a case where the Obama administration has adopted the policies of George Bush and 37:17.280 --> 37:23.880 it's basically been a matter of drill baby drill and then much more including the thumbs 37:23.880 --> 37:31.680 up for more offshore oil for opening up our national parks to fossil fuel exploration 37:31.680 --> 37:38.560 to more mountaintop removal the giving the thumbs up to fracking and to more coal and 37:38.560 --> 37:44.040 to the southern tier of the keystone pipeline which is laying the groundwork for the northern 37:44.040 --> 37:50.880 half there's no doubt what's coming after this election and then to actually the president 37:50.880 --> 37:56.240 going to Durban South Africa not him he didn't go it wasn't that important to him but it 37:56.240 --> 38:01.920 was his representatives who went to Durban and said no we didn't need an international 38:01.920 --> 38:09.600 trade agreement climate accord instead we could wait until 2020 which is absolutely 38:09.600 --> 38:28.240 an outrage we cannot wait till 2020 we cannot wait till 2016 it's time to stand up 38:28.240 --> 38:33.640 it's time to stand up on the climate right now and that's one of the reasons why it's 38:33.640 --> 38:41.440 not just okay to vote independent to vote your values and not your fears to vote green 38:41.440 --> 38:48.920 in this election it's not just okay it is life-saving it is job-saving and it is planet 38:48.920 --> 39:04.400 saving so that's the list to run through with your with your abused friends to do that reality 39:04.400 --> 39:12.160 check and to help them wake up and and and the reality is in this race that we not only 39:12.160 --> 39:20.200 have the right solutions but that the Democrats and Republicans don't have a single exit strategy 39:20.200 --> 39:27.520 not a one to offer for the critical problems that we are facing not one so in this race 39:27.520 --> 39:35.280 we have not only the facts on our side and justice on our side and the solutions on our 39:35.280 --> 39:41.320 side the real public interest solutions that are affordable available we can do them right 39:41.320 --> 39:47.520 now but the amazing and exciting thing is that we actually have public opinion on our 39:47.520 --> 40:01.680 side on every one of these issues we have the public weighing in on poll after poll 40:01.680 --> 40:08.600 in large majorities that they support the agenda that is our agenda that is voting green 40:08.600 --> 40:18.240 and remember this there are 36 million students and recent graduates who are indentured servants 40:18.240 --> 40:27.400 who do not have a future because of this incredible outrageous debt specially customized for students 40:27.400 --> 40:33.240 lacking all of the consumer protections that are present in all other kinds of debt so 40:33.240 --> 40:39.320 you've got students who've really been targeted and victimized as the latest cash cow for 40:39.320 --> 40:46.040 a predatory economy and predatory politicians Democrats and Republicans who've delivered 40:46.040 --> 40:59.800 this debt to a generation and the students are facing not only debt but also incredible 40:59.800 --> 41:06.880 unemployment rates of 50% unemployment and underemployment and facing the climate crisis 41:06.880 --> 41:12.800 which is coming down full bore on their shoulders that Democrats and Republicans won't even 41:12.800 --> 41:18.440 mention the name of and compete if you heard that outrageous discussion the other night 41:18.440 --> 41:24.320 they are competing they're in a pissing contest basically to see who can deliver more for 41:24.320 --> 41:32.440 the fossil fuels so students are facing that future this is like the future being faced 41:32.440 --> 41:38.400 by the young people in Tarar square and in Tunisia and I think they have charted the 41:38.400 --> 41:44.600 course for our generation our younger generation here as well and that course is to basically 41:44.600 --> 41:51.200 stand up and to say enough we are going to take our future back because if young people 41:51.200 --> 41:59.100 do that if that word gets out and if it goes viral among 36 million students who are better 41:59.100 --> 42:06.400 positioned to go viral than anyone else in this country if that word gets out and students 42:06.400 --> 42:14.920 come out remember 36 million votes in an election that expects 90 million voters could actually 42:14.920 --> 42:28.920 win the race in a three-way race and and speaking of students let me just tell you quickly when 42:28.920 --> 42:36.460 this campaign began actually before it began I was called on the phone by a young woman 42:36.460 --> 42:43.660 in Western Illinois Western Illinois University and she said you've got to come out here we're 42:43.660 --> 42:49.400 having a mock election we did this four years ago it happens every four years here in the 42:49.400 --> 42:56.160 Midwest the press pays attention remember this because it predicts the outcome of the 42:56.160 --> 43:02.120 election and we're having conventions five of them including Tea Party and Green and 43:02.120 --> 43:07.120 Libertarian and the two big parties we're having an electoral college we're having a 43:07.120 --> 43:13.640 general election night I'm your campaign manager and you need to come so I said yes ma'am 43:13.640 --> 43:19.560 that's what our campaign is for we are here to give you a voice above all so I went out 43:19.560 --> 43:25.660 I had six minutes to explain why students at this college that had never voted green 43:25.660 --> 43:36.360 left independent or or environmental why they should vote green and vote for us in this 43:36.360 --> 43:41.360 election and in the course of six minutes and I ran through the agenda very quickly 43:41.360 --> 43:54.880 we went from 3% in the polls to 27% in the polls it took six minutes 43:54.880 --> 43:58.560 and at first you know I was totally blown away we were hoping maybe we would get to 43:58.560 --> 44:07.000 10 or 15% you know I was totally flabbergasted by that and it at first I thought you know 44:07.000 --> 44:12.040 well that's just this school you know that's just this particular place it must have been 44:12.040 --> 44:19.960 a fluke but basically every campaign event after that was the same thing that when we 44:19.960 --> 44:26.240 could get to the microphone and in fact we were being invited to the microphone at places 44:26.240 --> 44:30.760 where we had always been told well thanks for coming to our rally but we can't let 44:30.760 --> 44:35.560 you speak because you're a green you know this was like totally different I thought 44:35.560 --> 44:43.200 this race would be the most bitter divisive kind of oh you persona non grata third party 44:43.200 --> 44:48.760 candidate I thought it would be more of that than any election I've ever been a part of 44:48.760 --> 44:55.360 and it's actually been exactly the opposite it's been like giving out candy at Christmas 44:55.360 --> 45:03.880 and Hanukkah and Kwanzaa all combined because there's been a political earthquake a silent 45:03.880 --> 45:09.560 earthquake it's partly a demographic shift but it's also an economic shift because one 45:09.560 --> 45:15.560 out of every two Americans is now in poverty or low income and heading for poverty and 45:15.560 --> 45:22.160 as I mentioned the predatory politicians do not have a single exit strategy in mind so 45:22.160 --> 45:29.560 we have an incredible opportunity right now to really turn politics on its head and just 45:29.560 --> 45:33.960 quickly so I don't leave things out I want to run through that agenda so you're clear 45:33.960 --> 45:42.320 what it is the key solutions that we are offering it includes the green new deal which is again 45:42.320 --> 45:54.720 what Americans are clamoring for which is jobs not tax breaks jobs and we know how to 45:54.720 --> 46:00.440 create jobs during the Great Depression we had a new deal which is what the green new 46:00.440 --> 46:06.360 deal is modeled on and in the new deal we actually created four million jobs in the 46:06.360 --> 46:13.240 first two months we can do this and we know how and the green new deal we would not only 46:13.240 --> 46:20.120 create 25 million jobs for about the cost of the first stimulus package which created 46:20.120 --> 46:26.360 two to three million why so many more because we would directly create jobs not give tax 46:26.360 --> 46:31.560 breaks which is what the Obama plans have been tax breaks don't create jobs so we'd 46:31.560 --> 46:39.040 get many more jobs put an end to unemployment and jumpstart the green economy for the 21st 46:39.040 --> 46:51.440 century at the same time and that includes and that means that means putting a halt to 46:51.440 --> 47:03.840 climate change and making wars for oil obsolete and then very quickly we're also calling for 47:03.840 --> 47:15.720 Medicare for all health care as a human right it not only covers everyone comprehensively 47:15.720 --> 47:21.160 it puts you back in the driver's seat of making your health care decisions with your provider 47:21.160 --> 47:28.280 not from some profiteering CEO and it saves us trillions of dollars over the coming decade 47:28.280 --> 47:43.000 it is the alternative to austerity I mentioned ending student debt right now they're bailing 47:43.000 --> 47:48.640 out Wall Street again to the tune of 40 billion dollars a month let's do that quantitative 47:48.640 --> 47:55.320 easing but let's do it for something that's real not for just this fake debt which is 47:55.320 --> 48:01.120 absolutely useless from the banks we should not be buying up more of the banks bad debt 48:01.120 --> 48:15.560 they built it they built it they can own it instead we can make good use of those dollars 48:15.560 --> 48:21.720 by bailing out the students and making public higher education free it pays for itself we 48:21.720 --> 48:27.600 know that from the GI bill every dollar we invested gave us seven dollars back in economic 48:27.600 --> 48:33.480 benefits for the economy it's not only the right thing it is absolutely the practical 48:33.480 --> 48:39.380 and responsible thing to do and we should do it in addition to downsizing the military 48:39.380 --> 48:46.320 cut back to year 2000 levels we are not twice as secure for having doubled the size of the 48:46.320 --> 49:03.040 military by no means we will be far more secure to be bringing our troops back from the bases 49:03.040 --> 49:09.040 back from the wars we don't need over a thousand bases in over 140 countries around the world 49:09.040 --> 49:14.440 ending the drone wars bringing our troops and our war dollars home to build true security 49:14.440 --> 49:20.720 here at home with jobs and health care and a green economy finally because I'm just about 49:20.720 --> 49:28.080 out of time we are at this tipping point moment there are 90 million voters who are voting 49:28.080 --> 49:35.480 with their feet by not coming out to this election one out of every two eligible voters 49:35.480 --> 49:41.000 is staying home because they know that neither Barack Obama nor Mitt Romney represent them 49:41.000 --> 49:45.560 what we need to do is get the word out and there are all kinds of ways that we can do 49:45.560 --> 49:51.760 that and remember whether we win the office and if we do that we can turn the White House 49:51.760 --> 50:00.320 into a greenhouse and the world will be a better place but even short of winning the 50:00.320 --> 50:07.880 office we can win the day every vote for our campaign is an irrepressible call for the 50:07.880 --> 50:14.160 solutions that the American people are demanding right now and we advance them with every vote 50:14.160 --> 50:29.600 that comes in for our campaign every vote is a win for the future we deserve. 50:29.600 --> 50:36.800 So by getting on the internet by going to our website jillstein.org by going to Facebook 50:36.800 --> 50:44.600 by going to Twitter and helping this campaign go viral to students to the unemployed to 50:44.600 --> 50:50.600 people of color to the disabled to all of the people to middle class Americans who are 50:50.600 --> 50:56.160 dropping down and joining the ranks of the impoverished to young people who are inheriting 50:56.160 --> 51:01.440 this climate crisis full bore we can get the word out there are so many people who would 51:01.440 --> 51:06.040 stand up and vote green in this election if we can get the word out and you can help do 51:06.040 --> 51:12.400 that another way you can help do that is by contributing to this campaign thanks to you 51:12.400 --> 51:22.560 we made matching funds in the primary that was a history made history together and we 51:22.560 --> 51:35.360 made it on the ballot thanks to you for 85 percent of voters in this election. 51:35.360 --> 51:42.600 If we can raise as much money in the final part of this race as we did in the primary 51:42.600 --> 51:49.040 we have the real potential to hire on the staff and to do the advertising we have this 51:49.040 --> 51:56.840 very simple TV and internet ad that was like really bare bones simple but you wouldn't 51:56.840 --> 52:02.280 have believed how it was bringing people in to the campaign it was just astounding we 52:02.280 --> 52:09.160 can get that ad up and running again if we can raise enough money to do it and the deal 52:09.160 --> 52:16.040 is if we can raise another half million dollars which is what we did in the first part if 52:16.040 --> 52:20.560 we can do that in this general section of the election if we can raise a half million 52:20.560 --> 52:27.400 we stand to be able to reach the five percent level possibly more but if we get to five 52:27.400 --> 52:41.240 percent it's a magic number at five percent we are on the ballot for the next four years 52:41.240 --> 52:47.440 and that means that means that we hit the ground running starting on November 7th for 52:47.440 --> 52:53.200 our upcoming local and legislative races it means we hit the ground running when we begin 52:53.200 --> 52:59.320 our next presidential race in this campaign we spent eighty percent of the campaign just 52:59.320 --> 53:04.800 getting on the ballot and only in the last couple weeks could we begin a real campaign 53:04.800 --> 53:10.920 nonetheless we came up from undetectable to one percent to two percent that is millions 53:10.920 --> 53:17.400 of voters even before we began to get the word out so if we have an adequately funded 53:17.400 --> 53:23.560 and staffed campaign we think we can double that from two percent to four percent get 53:23.560 --> 53:28.960 up a little higher to five percent where not only are we on the ballot then for at least 53:28.960 --> 53:35.260 the next four years it also means that we get a twenty million dollar grant from the 53:35.260 --> 53:48.160 federal government when we start the next presidential race 53:48.160 --> 53:54.700 so this is our moment this is what so many of us have spent our lifetimes laying the 53:54.700 --> 54:00.120 groundwork for and I don't know about you but I certainly never thought that I would 54:00.120 --> 54:06.280 see this kind of political tipping point happen in my lifetime and it's only going to get 54:06.280 --> 54:13.920 bigger because the establishment parties do not have solutions we're going to keep facing 54:13.920 --> 54:20.120 the problems that we face they are going to keep growing because the politics as usual 54:20.120 --> 54:26.100 is not going to fix it so we are laying the groundwork now for a campaign and a movement 54:26.100 --> 54:31.280 that will continue growing there is that social movement on the ground and the work that so 54:31.280 --> 54:36.720 many of you are doing to push us forward on all those fronts and that social movement 54:36.720 --> 54:42.200 deserves a political voice that is what we're building in the words of Frederick Douglass 54:42.200 --> 54:47.840 power concedes nothing without a demand it never has and it never will we are bringing 54:47.840 --> 54:55.600 that demand into the political universe and to quote another favorite guru of mine Alice 54:55.600 --> 55:03.440 Walker who says quite simply that we are the ones we've been waiting for let's turn this 55:03.440 --> 55:10.960 breaking point let's turn this breaking point we face into the tipping point we need and 55:10.960 --> 55:17.800 let's take back our democracy and the peaceful just green future we deserve thank you all 55:17.800 --> 55:24.800 so much for making it happen thank you 55:47.800 --> 55:56.880 good evening thank you all so much for being here my name is Kate Davidson and I am what 55:56.880 --> 56:01.720 we call in the political world Jill's handler if you will it sounds a little crass I know 56:01.720 --> 56:07.960 so I tell a lot of people I'm her personal assistant I want to tell you a little bit 56:07.960 --> 56:13.520 tonight about what it's like to travel with Jill on the road I joined Jill on September 56:13.520 --> 56:20.240 2nd after starting with the campaign on the local level I am a grad student in Kentucky 56:20.240 --> 56:28.160 Louisville where I'm normally stuck with my head in theology books but once I heard about 56:28.160 --> 56:34.560 this campaign I started at the local level collecting signatures for ballot access and 56:34.560 --> 56:39.120 I'm proud to say that after hard work we collected six thousand signatures in Kentucky and she's 56:39.120 --> 56:47.080 on the ballot there 56:47.080 --> 56:53.600 so after Kentucky was a success I thought I'm on fire I got to continue with this and 56:53.600 --> 56:58.380 fortunately and mysteriously they posted these job openings on the Jill Stein website and 56:58.380 --> 57:02.240 my partner pushed me she said you got to really you got to do this and I thought yeah right 57:02.240 --> 57:06.880 you know I'm a student I don't I don't know anything about politics but I applied and 57:06.880 --> 57:12.040 I went through the process and here I am so it's been quite a journey it's been a tremendous 57:12.040 --> 57:18.080 honor and a tremendous tremendous adventure we have been since September 2nd when I joined 57:18.080 --> 57:23.540 her in Charlotte for the DNC we have been to New York City and to DC we've been here 57:23.540 --> 57:30.160 in Washington State we've been all over California Minnesota where else let's see oh we went 57:30.160 --> 57:35.320 to Rhode Island I never been to Rhode Island before so it's been it's been very exciting 57:35.320 --> 57:40.880 and it's been a tremendous honor and along the way we meet some fantastic people both 57:40.880 --> 57:45.880 people who are already affiliated with the Green Party and people who are sort of familiar 57:45.880 --> 57:48.920 with it they've heard about it and also some people who are totally skeptical or don't 57:48.920 --> 57:54.000 want to have anything to do with it and I try to keep a journal at night so that you 57:54.000 --> 57:57.760 know 20 years from now I can look back and remember all of these all of these people 57:57.760 --> 58:02.480 and these incidents that have really stuck with me and so I rack my brain and there's 58:02.480 --> 58:06.840 one person that really sticks with me that I want to tell you about tonight I don't even 58:06.840 --> 58:13.320 know her name but we met her when we were in Cleveland Ohio Jill had just finished doing 58:13.320 --> 58:20.200 the Tavis Smiley Cornell West poverty tour are you all familiar with that yeah it's really 58:20.200 --> 58:24.120 great if you're not familiar with it make sure you go online you can find it on Tavis 58:24.120 --> 58:28.600 Smiley's website so she had just done that and it was a big success and as usual we were 58:28.600 --> 58:32.840 racing out of one thing to go do the to go to do the next thing I think we were going 58:32.840 --> 58:38.800 to the airport to fly to New York City and a woman stopped us in the lobby of the studio 58:38.800 --> 58:46.120 and she continued to tell Dr. Stein about the many struggles and sorrows in her life 58:46.120 --> 58:51.800 how she's struggling with her health and her health care how she's struggling financially 58:51.800 --> 58:56.280 how she's struggling with her family and her job and you could tell just by looking at 58:56.280 --> 59:01.600 her physicality that she was very downtrodden and as I was trying to get us out of the building 59:01.600 --> 59:07.040 to our plane on time I was I was heartbroken for this woman and I couldn't find the words 59:07.040 --> 59:13.000 to say to her and so I want to say to you tonight what I wanted to say to her then is 59:13.000 --> 59:19.320 that as long as you have your voice you have never lost your power this woman felt as if 59:19.320 --> 59:24.320 she had no power whatsoever and I wish I had said to her as long as you have your voice 59:24.320 --> 59:29.560 you've not lost your power and as Jill alluded tonight there are lots of important ways as 59:29.560 --> 59:35.280 you know that you can use your voice in this campaign as Jill uses hers and I use mine 59:35.280 --> 59:42.280 and all of the people you meet along the road do. It's free too and free is one of my favorite 59:43.480 --> 59:48.560 words Facebook right and on Facebook it's just Jill Stein and last I checked we have 59:48.560 --> 59:55.560 about 70,000 likes so let's keep that number going up and up. Secondly on Twitter if you 59:57.560 --> 01:00:04.200 go on Twitter it's at Jill Stein 2012 please be sure to put the 2012 after the Jill Stein 01:00:04.200 --> 01:00:11.200 because at Jill Stein by itself is some other I'm sure lovely woman but it is not her so 01:00:11.200 --> 01:00:16.480 at Jill Stein 2012 is our Twitter account and then of course Jillstein.org and on all 01:00:16.480 --> 01:00:21.560 three of these you can see tweets and posts and updates photographs stories about what 01:00:21.560 --> 01:00:26.360 we're doing where we are who we're meeting the schools we're visiting I do some of those 01:00:26.360 --> 01:00:31.280 tweets personally we have a social media person on our staff as well and so we try to keep 01:00:31.280 --> 01:00:36.080 you informed and you can tweet to us and we usually tweet back when we have time so that's 01:00:36.080 --> 01:00:40.560 a great way to stay informed and it's also a great way to like and share and repost and 01:00:40.560 --> 01:00:45.560 to tell your friends about what's going on so I really encourage you to do that. The 01:00:45.560 --> 01:00:50.960 second little bit of information I want to talk to you about is using not only your voice 01:00:50.960 --> 01:00:55.800 but also using your checkbook and Jill has already explained to you as I'm sure you know 01:00:55.800 --> 01:01:01.400 we don't take any corporate donations and so this is a grassroots campaign that is working 01:01:01.400 --> 01:01:07.080 on a bare bones minimum we have a small staff all of which including myself are probably 01:01:07.080 --> 01:01:13.360 doing the jobs of eight people each of us it's very tiring I'm lucky if I get four hours 01:01:13.360 --> 01:01:19.200 of sleep each night and so any contribution that you can make is helpful whether it's 01:01:19.200 --> 01:01:24.400 two dollars or it's twenty dollars or two hundred dollars or we always say if you happen 01:01:24.400 --> 01:01:29.680 to have a lot of change lying around that twenty five hundred dollars is the limit but 01:01:29.680 --> 01:01:34.400 if we can as Jill said if we can get more funding we can hire more staff so that we 01:01:34.400 --> 01:01:39.680 can get the word out along with your tweets and your Facebook posts through different 01:01:39.680 --> 01:01:44.520 venues and different ways of doing that so if you're able to make a donation tonight 01:01:44.520 --> 01:01:49.040 you may have picked up one of those half sheet donation forms either at the door or on the 01:01:49.040 --> 01:01:54.040 Jill Stein table in the lobby if you are going to make a donation especially if you're going 01:01:54.040 --> 01:01:59.200 to write a check you can also use credit card debit card or do cash please please please 01:01:59.200 --> 01:02:03.160 fill out one of these half sheet donation forms if you don't the FEC is going to come 01:02:03.160 --> 01:02:08.880 after me and that's a problem that's frightening to me so please fill out a donation form because 01:02:08.880 --> 01:02:14.840 we don't want the campaign to get into trouble so thank you all so much for being here tonight 01:02:14.840 --> 01:02:19.600 for coming to hear Dr. Stein and Shama and all the other speakers for learning more about 01:02:19.600 --> 01:02:24.640 the Green Party and what we're up to for taking part in this campaign for using your voice 01:02:24.640 --> 01:02:28.680 because this is what it's all about it's about you and it's about me and it's about all of 01:02:28.680 --> 01:02:33.680 us as everyday people fighting for what we need and what we deserve so we're going to 01:02:33.680 --> 01:02:40.680 do a question and answer time now with Jill if Jill wants to come back out Dr. Stein paging 01:02:41.680 --> 01:02:48.680 Dr. Stein. So I've got about seven of your questions here in my hand and we have a half 01:02:54.000 --> 01:02:58.880 an hour to do this I'm really hoping we can get through all of them and we did it just 01:02:58.880 --> 01:03:02.640 to let you know we did these cards as a way to sort of make sure we don't have repeat 01:03:02.640 --> 01:03:07.760 questions and to try and hit a lot of the topics that are the most popular so here we 01:03:07.760 --> 01:03:14.760 go Jill your first question is about women. Oh okay what about them? All right so yeah 01:03:19.280 --> 01:03:26.280 no there's a lot of I think disinformation about how the Democrats are going to you know 01:03:26.280 --> 01:03:33.280 make everything fine for women but in fact if you look at what Obama is offering it's 01:03:34.280 --> 01:03:41.280 pretty much more of the same and women have really been you know in the cross hairs of 01:03:42.280 --> 01:03:49.280 this economic unraveling so 40 percent of women headed households are in poverty women 01:03:49.280 --> 01:03:56.280 are being paid at like 75 percent of what men are paid for equal work women are the 01:03:57.040 --> 01:04:04.040 victims of the minimum wage jobs where the pay has not been raised many women are working 01:04:04.560 --> 01:04:10.560 in the tipped professions that are not even subject to minimum wage they get the sub minimum 01:04:10.560 --> 01:04:15.560 wage like for sub humans and so they're not even subject to minimum wage they get the 01:04:15.560 --> 01:04:22.560 sub minimum wage like for sub humans you'd think they're getting two dollars and thirteen 01:04:22.560 --> 01:04:27.560 cents an hour and that hasn't been raised and the Obama administration's failure to 01:04:27.560 --> 01:04:33.560 stand up for working people to stand up to raise the minimum wage and the tipped minimum 01:04:33.560 --> 01:04:40.560 wage you know has and the failure to stand up for the employee free choice act and to 01:04:40.560 --> 01:04:47.560 support unionization and to support the right to form workers all of these critically impact 01:04:47.560 --> 01:04:54.560 women the failure to stand up for Medicare for all for a single payer system which the 01:04:54.560 --> 01:05:00.560 president took off the table has huge impacts for women and women's health specifically 01:05:00.560 --> 01:05:07.560 the president took plan B you know the the morning after pill off the shelf it had been 01:05:07.560 --> 01:05:14.560 approved by the FDA approved by sixty medical organizations and public health organizations 01:05:14.560 --> 01:05:20.560 and this president took it off and makes a lot out of the difference between him and 01:05:20.560 --> 01:05:27.560 Romney that the Republicans are going to deny women victims of rape and incest abortions 01:05:29.560 --> 01:05:34.560 which is a terrible thing on the other hand it's also a terrible thing that millions of 01:05:34.560 --> 01:05:41.560 poor women have been denied access to abortion for decades under democratic administrations 01:05:41.560 --> 01:05:48.560 as well with this Hyde amendment that passed in like the 70s denying women on Medicaid 01:05:49.560 --> 01:05:55.560 access to an abortion as well so I'd say you know there's a lot of disinformation about 01:05:55.560 --> 01:06:01.560 how Obama would help women women have not been helped and it's important to separate 01:06:01.560 --> 01:06:08.560 the talk the warm and fuzzy talk that we hear from the actual walk and in fact women have 01:06:08.560 --> 01:06:15.560 not done well under the Obama administration any more than under Republicans thank you. 01:06:15.560 --> 01:06:24.560 So the next question comes from Eliza who is ten years old and she says what is it like 01:06:24.560 --> 01:06:35.560 being in jail for eight hours and being arrested? So I'll just say quickly it's not fun to be 01:06:35.560 --> 01:06:42.560 arrested and all kinds of people are being arrested nowadays just for standing up for 01:06:42.560 --> 01:06:50.560 their first amendment rights. I've gone to jail twice during this campaign the first 01:06:50.560 --> 01:06:59.560 time was at a protest of evictions by Fannie Mae for two families who had been victims 01:06:59.560 --> 01:07:06.560 of predatory loans and my running mate Sherry Honkala and I went to jail and we were processed 01:07:06.560 --> 01:07:12.560 for about 24 hours it took them to process us and that was the most eye opening experience 01:07:12.560 --> 01:07:19.560 of all to be in a tiny jail cell meant for one person we were three and four packed into 01:07:19.560 --> 01:07:25.560 these tiny jail cells for 24 hours and a jail cell if you haven't ever been to jail before 01:07:25.560 --> 01:07:34.560 is like the stall in a women's bathroom it's basically a big it's large it's basically a big 01:07:34.560 --> 01:07:42.560 stall around a toilet with a metal bench where one person could lie down and there were three 01:07:42.560 --> 01:07:49.560 of us that were packed into this little stall in freezing cold weather and in freezing cold 01:07:49.560 --> 01:07:55.560 temperature which they kept it cold on purpose so it was it was extremely punitive and very 01:07:55.560 --> 01:08:00.560 difficult I basically stood up all night because there was no place to lie down unless you 01:08:00.560 --> 01:08:07.560 wanted to lie down on this filthy floor in front of the toilet it's extremely dehumanizing 01:08:07.560 --> 01:08:14.560 if dogs were treated that way people would be put in prison for animal cruelty so we got a lot 01:08:14.560 --> 01:08:20.560 to do to clean up our prisons and to make sure that we're not throwing people into prison for 01:08:20.560 --> 01:08:30.560 simply standing up for their rights of free speech and then when I went to to the commission 01:08:30.560 --> 01:08:38.560 on presidential debates to protest you know to say that we deserved a full debate and was 01:08:38.560 --> 01:08:44.560 arrested again with Sherry we were actually handcuffed in tight plastic restraints and then 01:08:44.560 --> 01:08:52.560 cuffed to metal chairs where we sat for eight hours there were two of us for most of that time 01:08:52.560 --> 01:08:59.560 under the watch of 16 police there were all of two of us in this detention center and they 01:08:59.560 --> 01:09:05.560 couldn't they couldn't bear to like uncuff us from the chairs as if the two of us mighty 01:09:05.560 --> 01:09:13.560 grandmothers would overwhelm the 16 police that were sitting around and watching us so these are 01:09:13.560 --> 01:09:18.560 our homeland security dollars at hard work here and I should just mention that they were 01:09:18.560 --> 01:09:28.560 especially upset because our team Kate and and one other assistant had been able to track us 01:09:28.560 --> 01:09:36.560 down even though we were at a dark site we were at a national security special detention center 01:09:36.560 --> 01:09:43.560 that no one was able to find out about they were able to find out about our intelligence trumped 01:09:43.560 --> 01:09:56.560 their intelligence and that made that made them madder than anything and in fact they then told 01:09:56.560 --> 01:10:02.560 our support staff which showed up at this secret black site they told them that they would arrest 01:10:02.560 --> 01:10:09.560 them first they demanded to know how did they find out about this secret site they said well we just 01:10:09.560 --> 01:10:15.560 talked to people you know no fancy computer or spy systems we just talked to people and they had 01:10:15.560 --> 01:10:19.560 made a lot of phone calls to all the different police precincts and began to piece together little 01:10:19.560 --> 01:10:25.560 bits and pieces of information and talk to other people including the EMTs who sort of know where 01:10:25.560 --> 01:10:32.560 everything is and had put it together but they were really really pissed and and said to them that 01:10:32.560 --> 01:10:37.560 if they stayed on site because they showed up early if they stayed on site that they would be 01:10:37.560 --> 01:10:45.560 arrested for just being outside on the public sidewalk near this secret detention center so you 01:10:45.560 --> 01:10:53.560 know it just goes to show what a little bit of human intelligence can do to trump this national 01:10:53.560 --> 01:11:03.560 security intelligence so thank you next one okay food and nutrition are suspiciously absent from 01:11:03.560 --> 01:11:09.560 the health care debate how would you include them in a national health care program don't get me 01:11:09.560 --> 01:11:17.560 going on that one but yes I mean we we've made food and agriculture a key part of the Green New 01:11:17.560 --> 01:11:27.560 Deal so that we can we can transition our food economy which is currently a very toxic kind of 01:11:27.560 --> 01:11:43.560 food it's this industrial GMO highly processed calorie dense nutrition free pseudo food that is 01:11:43.560 --> 01:11:51.560 being you know subsidized and made cheap meanwhile food deserts are being created especially in low 01:11:51.560 --> 01:11:57.560 income communities and this has everything to do with these public health epidemics that we're 01:11:57.560 --> 01:12:03.560 fighting and in fact we're going bankrupt with not a health care system but really a sick care 01:12:03.560 --> 01:12:10.560 system which is spending over two trillion dollars a year if you add up private and public expenses 01:12:10.560 --> 01:12:17.560 on health care it's about two trillion dollars a year being spent treating chronic diseases that 01:12:17.560 --> 01:12:23.560 are preventable at a tiny fraction of the cost so it's one of the benefits of the Green New Deal 01:12:23.560 --> 01:12:31.560 in that it would shift subsidies over to small farmers and organic farmers in particular sustainable 01:12:31.560 --> 01:12:43.560 food systems. We're calling for sustainable small farmers and community farms and CSAs 01:12:43.560 --> 01:12:52.560 community supported agriculture and farmers markets and all those enterprises that create healthy 01:12:52.560 --> 01:13:02.560 sustainable nutritious local food which is also really essential for eliminating greenhouse gases 01:13:02.560 --> 01:13:12.560 food is a big source and industrialized food production is a big source and we can go so far to 01:13:12.560 --> 01:13:19.560 create a real health care system by providing healthy sustainable food and just one quick case 01:13:19.560 --> 01:13:27.560 in point when Cuba's oil pipeline went down in the 1990s with the collapse of the Soviet Union 01:13:27.560 --> 01:13:33.560 overnight Cuba had to green their food system and green their energy system and their transportation 01:13:33.560 --> 01:13:39.560 system it was like a Green New Deal overnight which they had to do and what do you think happened 01:13:39.560 --> 01:13:48.560 to their health statistics in the middle of this economic devastation and their GDP is crashing 01:13:48.560 --> 01:13:54.560 and they can't export anything they don't have their usual imports they don't have any oil and 01:13:54.560 --> 01:14:00.560 their usual energy so what happens when people had to start eating right and they had to start 01:14:00.560 --> 01:14:07.560 biking and walking to get places and they didn't have pollution from the fossil fuels to poison 01:14:07.560 --> 01:14:16.560 them overnight practically their health statistics had a revolution that we cannot buy with $2 trillion 01:14:16.560 --> 01:14:24.560 a year their obesity rates went down 50% their death rates from diabetes went down 50% their 01:14:24.560 --> 01:14:33.560 death rates from heart disease and stroke went down 20 to 35% it was an incredible health revolution 01:14:33.560 --> 01:14:39.560 and it really points to exactly what that question was talking about that a healthy food system is 01:14:39.560 --> 01:14:45.560 really critical not just for the climate not just for the jobs in our communities but fundamentally 01:14:45.560 --> 01:14:47.560 for our health as well thank you 01:14:47.560 --> 01:15:01.560 Next question what are your views on the Federal Reserve banking system should it be eliminated 01:15:01.560 --> 01:15:11.560 well there's no doubt the Fed as we know it should be eliminated 01:15:11.560 --> 01:15:20.560 there is a role for an institution that serves the public not the private banks and the Fed currently 01:15:20.560 --> 01:15:28.560 serves the private banks but we do need an institution to create monetary policy and to oversee 01:15:28.560 --> 01:15:36.560 that side of the economy but in a way that's transparent in a way that serves ordinary working 01:15:36.560 --> 01:15:41.560 people and not the banks so we basically do need to go back to the drawing boards on the Fed and 01:15:41.560 --> 01:15:43.560 make it right thank you 01:15:43.560 --> 01:15:53.560 I don't know how much time we have left is anybody Jody out there 10 minutes okay great thank you 01:15:53.560 --> 01:16:02.560 okay and Jody gets the last three all right in that case how about this is a frequently asked 01:16:02.560 --> 01:16:08.560 question that perhaps you don't hear that much about if you were president would you try and lessen 01:16:08.560 --> 01:16:12.560 the billions we give to Israel each year and actually call them out for the government acts of 01:16:12.560 --> 01:16:25.560 inhumanity against the Palestinians yes 01:16:25.560 --> 01:16:33.560 and simply put when we're in the White House we will put Israel on notice as well as Saudi Arabia 01:16:33.560 --> 01:16:41.560 and Bahrain and essentially all the countries who either are our partners or aren't our partners to 01:16:41.560 --> 01:16:51.560 say that our foreign policy will no longer depend on allies for oil that it will no longer depend on 01:16:51.560 --> 01:16:58.560 procuring scarce resources that our foreign policy will be based on international law and human 01:16:58.560 --> 01:17:14.560 rights and that any any support from the US government will be contingent on compliance with 01:17:14.560 --> 01:17:21.560 international law and human rights and that means an end to apartheid and then to illegal occupations 01:17:21.560 --> 01:17:29.560 and illegal settlements and so on so that we will expect the Israeli government to serve all 01:17:29.560 --> 01:17:38.560 Israelis and to build on the work being done right now on the ground by the peace and human rights 01:17:38.560 --> 01:17:45.560 groups Palestinians and the Israeli peace movement that are really working to build trust to build 01:17:45.560 --> 01:17:55.560 community and to actually create peace and justice on the ground that should be the model for how the 01:17:55.560 --> 01:18:04.560 Israeli government moves forward thank you 01:18:04.560 --> 01:18:09.560 Finally I'm going to combine a couple of these questions because I think this is a great way to wrap up 01:18:09.560 --> 01:18:15.560 so I'll read them both. How can we best use the awesome energy generated from your campaign to help 01:18:15.560 --> 01:18:22.560 elect greens locally and will you come to Seattle next year to help us elect local greens in 2014 01:18:22.560 --> 01:18:28.560 but also what are the key things we can do to help other than joining the Green Party and donating money 01:18:28.560 --> 01:18:41.560 so where should we go from here Jill? Great questions and you know I certainly did not get into this 01:18:41.560 --> 01:18:54.560 campaign in order to do something up until November 7th you know and then stop 01:18:54.560 --> 01:19:03.560 after 15 years really as an activist for public health for a health care system that would actually 01:19:03.560 --> 01:19:10.560 serve people for an environment that could protect our health instead of destroy our health you know 01:19:10.560 --> 01:19:17.560 that's how I sort of got into all of this and I worked as an activist for about 15 years until I realized 01:19:17.560 --> 01:19:24.560 that working on single issues is exactly where they want you to be so that we will be divided and conquered 01:19:24.560 --> 01:19:30.560 and at that point I realized that that's what a political party is supposed to be about it's supposed to be 01:19:30.560 --> 01:19:39.560 how we get to critical mass around an agenda for peace justice democracy and sustainability 01:19:39.560 --> 01:19:45.560 at that point I joined the Green Party and I actually began to run for office it was back in 2002 01:19:45.560 --> 01:19:52.560 and you know everything has just sort of proceeded from there and for me this is very much a part of 01:19:52.560 --> 01:20:01.560 building the Green Party as the means of hitting that tipping point and moving past that tipping point 01:20:01.560 --> 01:20:08.560 to actually challenging power and taking power so that we can do all the things that we work so hard 01:20:08.560 --> 01:20:17.560 to do on the ground so I really encourage people you know to join a Green Party local to become a member 01:20:17.560 --> 01:20:24.560 of the state party and to be active in that you know and you can be active doing the work that you're doing 01:20:24.560 --> 01:20:32.560 because we run elections but we also help to build the movement on the ground which the elections represent 01:20:32.560 --> 01:20:41.560 so whatever it is that you're working on you can bring that expertise into the party and help build 01:20:41.560 --> 01:20:49.560 that issue while you're building the broad coalition we'll be having a discussion after this race 01:20:49.560 --> 01:20:55.560 whether we're in the White House or we're not yet in the White House we'll be having a broader discussion 01:20:55.560 --> 01:21:02.560 about where we go next but I think one of the things we'll be focusing on is municipal elections 01:21:02.560 --> 01:21:10.560 and trying to help candidates and local parties break into their city councils or break up where they're 01:21:10.560 --> 01:21:17.560 already in city councils to move on up to the level of mayors we do have some mayors around the country 01:21:17.560 --> 01:21:23.560 it'd be great to be seeing some more and a bigger presence on our city councils so that may be the first 01:21:23.560 --> 01:21:30.560 order of business we're also really interested in bringing more people not only into our local parties 01:21:30.560 --> 01:21:36.560 but also into the national party the national party could play a very important role in helping our local 01:21:36.560 --> 01:21:43.560 chapters talk to each other and share the solutions and the strategies and the campaigns that we've come 01:21:43.560 --> 01:21:51.560 up with so that we all don't have to reinvent the wheel the corporations are very good at sharing their 01:21:51.560 --> 01:22:01.560 solutions through ALEC the American Legislative Exchange, CABAL and other sources they have a way to 01:22:01.560 --> 01:22:07.560 kind of go viral with their solutions and we need to have a way to do that as well to be sharing 01:22:07.560 --> 01:22:14.560 horizontally and I think the national party can do a much better job of helping us do that so those are 01:22:14.560 --> 01:22:21.560 some of the things on the agenda it took me you know it took me a couple times running for office to 01:22:21.560 --> 01:22:29.560 realize that the minute you finish your run for office you're in another campaign even if it's not 01:22:29.560 --> 01:22:40.560 running in an election it's just as time critical it's just as essential it's just as life changing 01:22:40.560 --> 01:22:47.560 to keep building that social movement and the political voice that represents it and the Green 01:22:47.560 --> 01:22:58.560 Party gives us a platform to do that it's like the saying from 17th century sailor lore you need one 01:22:58.560 --> 01:23:06.560 hand for the ship and one hand for yourself so keep working on exactly what you're working on but 01:23:06.560 --> 01:23:14.560 also consider joining the party as a way to make all of our movement stronger and get to critical 01:23:14.560 --> 01:23:21.560 mass because the clock is ticking we don't have time to spare every moment counts and we need to 01:23:21.560 --> 01:23:30.560 keep the heat on there is a big election you know in the in the big universe out there and it's 01:23:30.560 --> 01:23:37.560 really important that we win this race for democracy for justice and for sustainability we can 01:23:37.560 --> 01:24:01.560 make it happen together thank you all so much for making it so 01:24:07.560 --> 01:24:08.560 you